


Tail

by TabbyCat33098



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon, Character Study, Drabble, F/M, Focuses on Harry and Draco's friendship, Friendship, HP: Epilogue Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-08
Updated: 2015-01-07
Packaged: 2018-03-06 15:17:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3139061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TabbyCat33098/pseuds/TabbyCat33098
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco knows he's being tailed. And Draco knows his tail knows he knows he's being tailed. And maybe, just maybe, one day Draco will stop and say hello.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My only excuse is that I wanted to drabble. All chapters will be 100 words long. POV alternates between Draco and Harry.

Draco knows he is being followed. He sees the mop of raven hair reflected in windows as he passes. If he didn't know better, he'd say his tail didn't know what he was doing.

But Draco does know better. Because he has seen a pair of crooked glasses, two shocking emerald eyes, a familiar lightning scar. And he knows his tail is none other than Auror Harry Potter.

And Draco knows he is safe. Potter isn't prejudiced. Draco feels more secure knowing Potter is close at hand.

And who knows? Maybe, one day, Draco might even stop and say hello.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry hasn't tried to keep his presence much of a secret. He knows that Draco knows he's being tailed. But Harry doesn't mind.

It's been years since the Second Wizarding War, and Harry thinks all these prejudices are silly. Draco has more than redeemed himself, in Harry's opinion.

But the Wizarding World is stubborn that way, and persists in its hatred, going so far as to assign Draco a tail. And it saddens Harry, just a little bit.

So he tries to make it up to Draco by being obvious. And he hopes that one day, Draco might say hello.


	3. Chapter 3

Draco knows that if Potter isn't hiding, it's on purpose. Which leads him to wonder if Potter knows that Draco knows that he's being tailed. And he concludes that yes, Poter does indeed know this. And maybe, just maybe, he wanted Draco to know he had a tail.

So Draco decides enough is enough. This has been going on for almost a month. It's time to make amends. Or, at the very least, call a truce.

This time, when he walks around a corner, he just stops. And he waits. And when Potter walks around the corner, he says, "Hello."


	4. Chapter 4

When Harry rounds the corner, he automatically scans the crowd fifty feet away for Draco's distinctive blonde hair, because that's where Draco should be. So it surprises him when a familiar voice says "Hello" hardly two feet away from him.

Masking his surprise like a true Auror, he turns to face Draco. "Hello," he replies. They both fall silent as they look each other over. But it's a comfortable silence, not an awkward one, and Harry smiles slightly.

Finally, Draco holds out his hand, and Harry shakes it. "Join me for coffee?" Draco asks, and Harry can't help but agree.


	5. Chapter 5

"You look better," Draco tells Potter as they sit down. And he means it. The brunette has filled out since their Hogwarts days. The Auror program appears to have done him a great deal of good.

"We all do, I reckon," Potter replies, and Draco nods his acknowledgement.

They sit in silence for a while, before Draco decides to extend an olive branch.

"He was wrong," Draco says. "Voldemort. I can see that now."

Potter nods. "I know," he replies, and Draco knows he has been forgiven. Potter smiles then, and if Draco smiles back... Well.

Who can blame him?


	6. Chapter 6

Harry knows he can be dense sometimes. But he's not so dense as to not recognize Draco's olive branch for what it is. And he's more than ready to accept. "I know," he says with a smile.

And it's true. Draco isn't the same prejudiced brat he was in Hogwarts. The War changed him. He's kinder now, able to see past the labels of society.

They sit in silence again, holding a wordless conversation, and Harry feels the atmosphere shift.

Then he stands up. "I'll see you around," he says, as if they've been friends forever. He leaves, still smiling.


	7. Chapter 7

Draco stares out the window for a while after Potter leaves. He can sense that the atmosphere has shifted.

Somehow, over the last half an hour, all their differences have been washed away. It's as if their first meeting at Hogwarts has repeated itself. But now, they are older, more experienced, more mature, and the scene has a happier ending. The air between them is no longer tense with hatred; it is relaxed, lighter, happier, freer.

Draco stands up. He feels surprisingly relaxed himself. Still smiling faintly, he trails Potter by several hundred feet and pushes through the cafe's door.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, Harry falls in step with Draco.

"Aren't you violating your code of secrecy, Potter?" Draco asks without looking at him.

Harry grins, unfazed. "Nope. All they told us was to make sure you didn't try to resurrect the Dark Lord. But most people, upon hearing the term "Death Eater," assume secrecy is a must." His smile falls at the thought.

"They'd be right, really," Draco says darkly, and Harry looks at him, surprised. "Too many of Voldemort's supporters would love to get back at the Ministry."

"But you're different," Harry states.

"Yes, I suppose so," Draco replies.


	9. Chapter 9

Draco wonders when Potter became Harry. Probably around the same time Pansy became Parkinson and Blaise became Zabini, he reflects wryly.

They have struck up an odd camaraderie, Harry and he. They still greet each other with insults and sarcasm, but those insults are halfhearted, more a part of the familiar banter they share that only they understand.

Their friends (or acquaintances, in Draco's case) think they're crazy. The entire world is waiting for their friendship to dissolve into hatred. But Draco knows their bond is too strong to break.

For the first time in his life, Draco is happy.


	10. Chapter 10

Looking at Draco now, Harry wonders why he rejected Draco's hand all those years ago. Then he realizes it was because of that rejection that they're such good friends now, and he's happy it turned out this way.

Really, he's not so surprised they're such fast friends. They're not ones to do things by halves; it figures they'd either be archenemies or best friends. He knows Ron and Hermione are waiting for a repeat of their Hogwarts days, but he also knows that Draco is as close to him as they are.

And he wouldn't have it any other way.


	11. Chapter 11

Almost unknowingly, Draco begins to gravitate towards Harry. It doesn't really surprise him when he realizes what has happened. After all, who does he have left? Zabini and Parkinson have gone into isolation, not wanting to face the world, as have Draco's parents. Even Astoria, his wife, is only with him because of the contract.

The rest of the world can't look past his Dark Mark.

Harry, and slowly Weasley and Granger (she'll always be Granger to him), is the only person who sees Draco for Draco.

So he allows it to happen, and maybe even pushes the process along.


	12. Chapter 12

Harry decides it's high time Draco, Ron, and Hermione got over their differences. So he invites all three of them to dinner.

To his surprise, Ginny comes along, too. "You don't mind, I hope?" she asks, shyly.

"Not at all," Harry replies, and silently uses magic to set another place at the table.

He ignores Draco's knowing smirk.

The atmosphere is tense at first, and Harry starts to have second thoughts about this whole thing. But then Hermione asks, "I hear you're working as a Healer?" and the floodgates bust open.

And Harry knows everything is going to be okay.


End file.
